A 27 Month Peace Corps Adventure in Colombia

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Monthly Archives: October 2017

As most of you know, I live in an artisanal pueblo, which is something I love dearly. One of the major products are hammocks. So as we head into the weekend, I thought I’d leave you with some relaxing thoughts brought to you by some of the beautiful hammocks I’ve been able to see from start to finish to everywhere in between.

This witty title was actually our “hashtag” for our trip. Not that I’m really into hashtags, but trips with Natalie always include one, and that I can totally get behind (revisit #puenteenelparque for Tayrona.)

Even though there was a 5-week paro and many schools had class during Semana Uribe, as PC education volunteers, this week is an important travel week, as we generally avoid travel during school. Natalie, Audrey, Alyssa, and I decided to explore La Guajira, a departamento (state) on the coast. La Guajira is beautiful, full of mountains, ocean, and a rich indigenous culture.

We started our journey in Palomino, a popular tourist town, known best for going tubing down the river. Unfortunately, I was really sick the week before the trip and it spilled over into the trip. But I heard it was great! Very sunny, but relaxing and fun. Note for future travelers: do the tubing part, don’t be sick.

We traveled on to Dibulla, a small beach town. It had some hidden gems, including a yummy restaurant owned by a very friendly woman who lived in the US for many years. We got to enjoy arepas and lasagna to 80’s and 90’s classics. We also got to watch part of a local dance class one of our friends put on. A few weeks later the class had an amazing performance in their pueblo.

We took one day to hop over to Camarones, a pueblo with a national park in it, protecting groups of flamingos and their home. Our guide took us to the office, a short boat ride from the mainland, and then we went into the lagoon to see some flamingos. He would get the boat close(ish) to the flamingos and they would fly off a little bit and we’d get close(ish) and they’d fly off to another close spot…repetitive but still cool. We were told around December and January the migrating flamingos come back, so you can see hundreds of flamingos at one time.

After playing with the flamingos we headed back to the mainland for lunch and had the BEST arroz de coco I’ve had. It’s rice cooked with coconut, something I intend to learn how to make. While waiting, a group of young kids came over. They chatted, played with Audrey’s umbrella and our cameras, and did all of our hair.

Our last stop was Rioacha, a great little city on the beach (seeing a theme in La Guajira yet?) There was good food, lots of beautiful artisanal goods, and nice beaches nearby. We shopped, laid on the beach, swam, met up with some nearby friends, took pictures, and enjoyed some good food and drinks around town.